Assessing negative pressure therapy procedural training learning outcomes between traditional and first-person point-of-view immersive virtual reality: a pilot study on nurses’ confidence and errors

Introduction The use of virtual reality (VR) training in allied healthcare educational program has increased over the last decade as VR continues to be more integrated into a wide range of curriculum. The effectiveness of VR has continued to show evidence-based approaches to improving student learning outcomes from pilot as well as more extensive studies on VR pedagogy. Methods The present study employed a single-blind randomized pilot study on N = 75 nursing students to learn both conceptually and procedurally a Negative Pressure Therapy (NPT) technique by comparing its instruction in traditional 2D TV display (n = 36) and First-Person Point-of-View Immersive Virtual Reality (FP-POV IVR; n = 39). Nurses were assessed for their theoretical content knowledge, their practical and procedural skills, their time conducting the technique, and how many errors they made on a mannequin post intervention. Additionally, the nurses were assessed for their confidence at baseline, before, and after doing the procedure. Results The results showed that the VR intervention improved hand hygiene (p < 0.05*), improved their accuracy in cutting and sizing the foam (trend [T] approaching p < 0.05*), and reducing their overall errors in conducting the procedure (p < 0.05*), with no difference in time to conduct the NPT technique. Further, their confidence before and after the NPT technique was increased due to the VR intervention (p < 0.05#) with an interaction noted with the test condition (i.e., before and after doing the procedure p < 0.001†††), and a significant correlation was identified between increased confidence and decreased errors before (p < 0.01**) and after (p < 0.01**) the NPT technique. Discussion As nurses are being trained, the use of VR in the curriculum may prove useful in reducing errors, increasing more accurate procedures, increase their confidence to improve patient care and decrease the risk of malpractice. The present pilot study validated the use of FP-POV IVR for nurses conducting NPT techniques consistent with other reports using the Revinax Handbook® VR software/platform.